[Day 20]

Life is full of surprises, and I never expected to meet Solomon in the North.

Even though He twisted his rules to make himself look like an unremarkable middle-aged man, I recognized Him as I passed by.

Well, the main thing is to see you by His side.

———————————————

No, what is it?

Thoth was momentarily stunned by Solomon's visit to the North—from Solomon's point of view, it should be called a private visit, and from his point of view, it should be called a surprise inspection.

When he was still called Meng Bai, the school also conducted many surprise inspections, nothing more than whether the class was clean enough, whether the students were wearing school uniforms or not, and often a bit of a picky bone in the egg, and half of his foot stepped into the realm of nervousness.

"It's already night, why is it still so lively ahead?"

Solomon spoke suddenly, and Thoth hastened to pull himself out of all sorts of speculations.

"Back to Your Majesty, there will be a night market in this area on Fridays and Saturdays, selling snacks and handicrafts and the like."

"Call me what?" Solomon raised his eyebrows slightly.

"I mean, 'sir.'" Thoth coughed lightly, "There are a lot of people over there, are you sure you want to go over?" ”

"It's okay, let's go and have a look."

After walking for a while, the aroma of the food became more and more intense, the voices of people became more and more noisy, and the light outlined the outline of the stall in the cold night, which made people's hearts warm.

Even if he stepped off the throne of black iron, shed his heavy and gorgeous beard, took off his expensive gemstone ring, and wore only a pure black robe, Solomon's majesty could not be hidden, and passers-by would subconsciously avoid his gaze, and although people came and went, they also tried to avoid touching his shoulders, and occasionally a child running around hit his lap, and the corners of his mouth collapsed uncontrollably before he could say "I'm sorry".

"Alright, it's okay."

Before the boy could cry, Thoth stepped forward in time to cover Solomon's majestic figure, and his mother hurried up to take him into her arms.

Solomon said, "You seem to have a knack for blending in with the crowd. ”

Thoth said modestly: "Only the hand is familiar." ”

"Let's take a look at the hand-woven carpet! Pretty and fluffy! Good wash and keep warm! ”

"It's a portrait, it's not like you don't need money!"

"The old man over there, would you like some hot apple stuffing? These are apples grown in a greenhouse! ”

"Buy 10 get 2 free barbecue! Choose from spicy, sweet, salty! ”

Their conversation was soon overshadowed by all sorts of shouts, and just as Thoth pondered whether he should treat His Majesty the Emperor to something to show his landlord's friendship, a shout caught his attention.

"Weasley joke shop new product, Tibetan conch that can play little songs!"

A small man with a large string of conch shells in his hand shouted in a sharp, thin and thousand-turn voice, "It's all new, one copper coin for three, one tube for half a year, buy five get one free, buy ten get three free!" ”

The two young girls were quickly attracted by the novelty, and in order to demonstrate how to use it, the little man tapped three times on the bottom of the conch, and a melody that Solomon and Thoth sounded familiar to float out - this was the first song that had been played at the recent concert, "The Mermaid", and although the lyrics were removed, the ethereal melody was still intoxicating, and even in the middle of the city, it attracted the ears of many people.

More people flocked to the little man, begging him to reveal the little songs in the other conch shells, so the accompaniment of songs such as "Give the Witcher a Coin", "Song of the Lonely Mountain", and "The Wind is in Its Prime" sounded one after another—but in order to increase the suspense, when only a third of each song was put on, the little man knocked on the bottom of the conch again, and the music came to an abrupt end, and the people hurriedly took out the money, and the coin jingled loudly, and the little man soon made a lot of money.

Solomon looked at Thoth with a meaningful look in his eyes, but Thoth looked calm and unapologetic, "There is no provision in the laws of the empire that you can't make extra money in this way, right?" ”

Incidentally, he opened the Weasley Joke Shop—a nod to J.K. Rowling, the little man who was the gold medal salesman in his shop.

"You've always been very motivated and very creative when it comes to doing business." Solomon smiled slightly, "The silk soap you invented some time ago became a new favorite in the social world, and even I have a piece in my bathroom. ”

"I'm glad this product got in your eyes." "As for why I'm passionate about business," said Thoth, "it's because making money gives you a sense of accomplishment, saving money gives you a sense of satisfaction, and spending money makes you feel like you're cutting your flesh — all of which help to maintain humanity, and you can experience it." ”

"I see."

The corners of Solomon's mouth twitched, as if he was shocked by such a fresh and refined "method of maintaining human nature".

Some people can't wait to knock on the bottom of the conch after buying it, and come to their ears to listen, and despite the noise of the night market, with the ears of mythical creatures, Solomon and Thoth can easily hear that it is the accompaniment of the "Fool's Song".

"The Golden Age is back."

Solomon uttered the lyrics, his fingers swaying slightly to the eerie rhythm of the dark tide.

At the recent concert, Thoth put "Song of the Fool" to the end, this song is already majestic, grandiose, coupled with the illusion of stormy waves and lightning and thunder that he deliberately created, naturally gave the audience a great shock - but well, some people will always habitually think a lot, especially the "people" who have lived a long time.

"The Golden Age will return."

The premise of "return" must be "leaving" or "passing away", isn't it a blatant provocation for a monarch of a prosperous country to imply "passing" in front of the black emperor chosen by the times?

Many people secretly observed Solomon's expression, but he only held the language charm in his hand and played with it, unable to distinguish between joy and anger.

"I've heard the name 'Iberia' before."

In the dead silence, Duke Abraham was the first to speak, and he asked, in an inquiring tone, "But I have the impression that this city-state should be located in a vast wilderness, and why should it be related to the sea?" ”

Coincidentally, during the glorious age of the Tertiary Age, there was indeed such an inland city-state called "Iberia", where the bard Thoth spent some time, and the dairy products there won his heart.

"Because this 'Iberia' is fictional." "Unlike the Iberia in the wilderness," said Thoth, "this Iberia lives only in the author's imagination, and the author wants it to be adjacent to the sea." ”

Bethel smiled, "That author can't be you, right?" ”

Thoth laughed, too, "I don't have such a big imagination. The ancestors who created this story and this song have no ashes left, and I just acquired their cultural heritage by chance. ”

"Alas, you always 'accidentally' get some good stories that make the recorder covet."

"Look at what you said, how can a fictional plot compare to what you have seen and heard in the starry sky?"

"Oh, so I really want to compare with you." Bethel lifted his chin proudly, his deep blue eyes shining brightly, "Do you want to see whose story is more exciting?" ”

"Where did your gratuitous desire to compare come from?" Thoth sighed with a slight exaggeration, "But I'm willing to accompany you." ”

Then, His Majesty the Emperor, the Queen of the Blood, and the angels around them were all used as air by Duke Abraham and the Hidden Sage—perhaps because they had been hanging out together at banquets all year round, and they always had a tacit understanding that no one else could interfere with.

Duke Abraham recounted an insect he encountered in the starry sky that was inseparable from music, and its larvae had three links, and each additional link in the future would lead to an additional instrument, up to eight links, and if one link was cut and ground into powder, even a person with incomplete notes could become a great musician.

Set in The Fool's Song, the Hidden Sage tells the story of a creature named "Sea Heir", who has an extreme ability to adapt and evolve - in the absence of nutrients or too dry, they do not decay and die, but quickly abandon unnecessary limbs and organs, and degenerate from a running and jumping creature into a mass of flesh that can still breathe, and yes, they are difficult to kill.

Medici said, "Then burn them with fire." ”

"It's a real plan, but you have to make sure you kill them completely, not half-dead - surrounded by the sea, they will soon come back to life." "When they come back next time, they will develop a certain resistance to flames, they will heal burns faster and faster, and maybe they will evolve parts that resist flames, such as carapaces or something." ”

"What if poison is used?"

"That is also guaranteed to be dead, but if you take a breath, it can evolve an organ that secretes toxins."

"That's, if it really exists, it wouldn't exist." Medici sighed, "Doesn't it have any weaknesses?" ”

"Does it matter if you don't have feelings?" Thoth smiled eerily, "There is no affection, no love, and no faith, there are only two goals in their lives, survival and evolution. ”

Silent.

An eerie silence spread between the most distinguished seats.

Bethel clapped softly, "Although my spiritual intuition doesn't warn, I'll confirm that it's just a fictional creature, right?" ”

"Who knows? After all, the nature of this world is madness and chaos, and the boundaries between illusion and reality are not so clear. ”

"Those unbelievable things may have prototypes in real life, right?"

Thoth deliberately put on a mysterious posture.

He found an interesting phenomenon that after hearing some obscure words, those with complex minds would spend more time and energy trying to figure out what was behind them, because the person who said them was a hidden sage who had mastered countless mysteries.

But he just thought it was amusing that his colleagues were suspicious and bothered.

Thoth thought to himself, hoping it would set their hairline back a few centimeters.

———————————————

The courtier, disguised as an ordinary tourist, stopped at a food stall and chose a seat, and a stocky woman poured them steaming milk tea, cheesecake and baked apples—this was Thoth's decision, and after Solomon said "whatever he wanted," he chose the two things he liked, but the cheesecake was much larger than he thought.

"What era are you from?"

Solomon frowned after taking a sip of milk tea - for southerners who are used to drinking pure black tea, the sweetness of milk tea is a bit shocking to the taste buds. He distorted the rules of sound propagation when He spoke, so that those deadly words would not fall into the ears of ordinary people.

Thoth noticed that he didn't use the phrase "how long he lived", after all, immortals don't bother to remember the years they have passed.

"Earlier than the First Age."

Thoth replied frankly, ancient is not a sin, there is no need to hide it.

As he answered, he did not forget to cut a piece of cheese cake for himself.

As to how Solomon realized this, he didn't care, but there was speculation. Perhaps it was Solomon's realization that the grammar and tense of English were very different from the lingua franca of the Elves, Dragons, Giants, Ancient Hermes, and the northern and southern continents, or perhaps perhaps it was something Zarathus had said - since Antigonus came to the Empire, he had become more and more knowledgeable, and even the riddles that had been elevated to the threshold were much less.

"What do words like 'wither,' 'fade,' 'decadence,' mean in your long life?"

Before "Song of the Fool" was "In Bloom", a woman worried that love would pass away with her youth, and asked her lover over and over again, the tune was sorrowful, and the style was impeccable, but Ornia's face was a little strange.

Medici asked Thoth if he was talking about anything through psychic communication, and Thoth replied calmly that aging is a commonplace phenomenon, and it is not some erotic gossip or family secrets, so what can't be talked about? What is not the connotation?

"The cycle of history, the laws of nature."

"Reincarnation, law." Solomon swallowed a piece of cheesecake and chewed on the two words as well, "Mythical creatures do not age, can it be considered that they have jumped out of this law?" ”

"Just because the flesh is as glamorous as ever doesn't mean that time won't affect us."

Thoth smiled faintly, "When the birth and withering of life become the norm, we will not be moved by the landing of a newborn or the death of a late one. In other words, do you remember the scene when the firstborn child landed? ”

"My wife's first child was a daughter." Solomon corrected, "At that time I was still the consul of the city-state. ”

"I see."

"After I became a god, I gave birth to countless bloodlines, but I was no longer as happy as before, and I had no intention of holding the baby in my arms and teasing."

Solomon sighed, and the white air blurred his sword-and-axe face.

"Although I admire the Vatini's ambition and progress, and feel that she lives up to Solomon's name and dishonors my blood, I always can't help but compare her with my firstborn daughter, and although the princess should be reserved and courteous, I always feel that she is not as lively and lovely as the child, and not so docile and caring."

Solomon took another sip of milk tea—though he still frowned, he was already getting used to the sweetness.

"When this memory fades, maybe I'll be no different from the monster named 'Sea Heir'."

"You call it a monster?" Thoth smiled slightly, "Don't you think it's a pretty perfect creature?" Its adaptability to the environment is amazing, as long as it can't kill it, it will make it stronger, how suitable for surviving in this crazy and chaotic world. ”

"When were you so good at irony?" Solomon laughed, "Or is this what you are?" ”

"Does it make you feel unpleasant? Need I be more respectful? Like little Arista? ”

Thoth's smile didn't change, but Solomon felt the irony even more pronounced—he had changed after the reception of the Bloods, the concert to be exact.

Or let go of yourself.